I escaped with my parents via Yugoslavia to Italy in 1970. We were in Padriciano and Latina camps. All refugees from former commie Czechoslovakia escaped political oppression. I was 18 then, now 72 . I recall that Germany, England, France did not want to accept refugees and Italydid nit want refugees to stay but to emigrate. Many young men went to Canada to avoid potential military draft in the U.S. I joined and served. I visited the Czech Republic in 1999 for the first time and Italy this year. Beautiful country and people… they respected us because we respected Italian laws and the country, unlike today’s migrants…
54 years went by, how much the world has changed. But we owe thanks to Italy for histing ys, no matter the conditions in the refugee camps at the time. We were free! Grazie mille!
Our website projectancestry.com has dedicated pages about the post WW2 Trieste DP Camps, including personal stories. We visited the C.R.P in Padriciano in autumn, we were the only ones there, a truly moving experience. To read the stories and for for information about the Trieste DP Camps, please visit our website https://projectancestry.com/dp-camps-trieste . Greetings from Austria
Was here with my fiancee, Vladimir Klatil, in July 1969, for initial processing and background checks after escaping communism from Czechoslovakia. After medical checks, finger printing and Interpol interviews we were sent to a refugee camp in Capua near Naples; one month later we ended up in Latina Regugee Camp on the Tyrrhenian coast . Stayed there until we were allowed to immigrate to Canada in January 1969. I remember this camp with mixed emotions, the night drive to the refugee camp several Italian Carabinieri, removal of our passports, the frightening first day and night in the prison on site, the grueling medical checks, vaccinations, finger printing, the interview with Interpol and mostly the survival of the fittest kind of attitude among the general population.
I was here in 1968 as a refugee from the Czechoslovakia
He was here in the fall of 1968, after escaping from communist Czechoslovakia through the Iron Curtain on the way through Yugoslavia. After being processed after the initial background check, we were sent to the refugee camp in Latina on the Tyrrhenian coast. I stayed there until the summer of 1969 and then went to Switzerland, where I lived for 35 years. I remember the Padriciano camp, and now in May I was there for a visit, to revive my memories of the escape from communist unfreedom. Not much remained of the camp. There is, however, a Refugee Museum established in the harbor building. Now I am 73 years old and I live in Slovakia. Many thanks to Italy and all Italians for helping refugees. I love Italy and go there on vacation almost every year. Salute Italy.
I was here in the summer of 1969 as a refugee from Czechoslovakia, after escaping communism through the Iron Curtain on the way through Yugoslavia. After initial processing of the refugee and background checks, we were able to move freely. We often went to the village of Padriciano and the city of Trieste. After a few weeks, we were sent to a refugee camp in Latina on the Tyrrhenian coast. I stayed there for several months until I left for Switzerland. I made a new life in a new world. I often think of Padriciano and I am grateful to Italy and the Italian people for their help at that time. Big thanks. Since then I have been to Italy countless times as a tourist. Now I live in Slovakia again. More than 50 years have passed since then. I greet Italy and all Italian people.
Jan S.
Was here with my parents and brother summer of 1970 for initial processing and background checks after escaping communism through the Iron Curtain by the way of Yugoslavia. After processing we were sent to a refugee camp in Latina on the Tyrrhenian coast. Stayed there until we were allowed to immigrate to the US in December 1970. I remember this camp being about a kilometer west of this location and consisting of an old converted prison. Maybe my memory is faulty, it has been 51 years since then. We made a new life in the new world.